Daily Quiz: UPSC Prelims Marathon – April 8, 2020

In 1983, the Central government appointed a three-member Commission on Centre-state relations under the chairmanship of R S Sarkaria, a retired judge of the Supreme Court. The Commission made 247 recommendations to improve Centre–state relations. The important recommendations are mentioned below:

• A permanent Inter-State Council called the Inter-Governmental Council should be set up under Article 263.
• Article 356 (President’s Rule) should be used very sparingly, in extreme cases as a last resort when all the available alternatives fail.
• The institution of All-India Services should be further strengthened and some more such services should be created.
• The residuary powers of taxation should continue to remain with the Parliament, while the other residuary powers should be placed in the Concurrent List.
• When the president withholds his assent to the state bills, the reasons should be communicated to the state government.

The Zonal Councils are the statutory (and not the constitutional) bodies. They are established by an Act of the Parliament, that is, States Reorganisation Act of 1956. The act divided the country into five zones (Northern, Central, Eastern, Western and Southern) and provided a zonal council for each zone. Each zonal council consists of the following members: (a) home minister of Central government. (b) Chief Ministers of all the States in the zone. (c) Two other ministers from each state in the zone. (d) Administrator of each union territory in the zone. The home minister of Central government is the common chairman of the five zonal councils. Each chief minister acts as a vice-chairman of the council by rotation, holding office for a period of one year at a time.

A proclamation imposing President’s Rule must be approved by both the Houses of Parliament within two months from the date of its issue. However, if the proclamation of President’s Rule is issued at a time when the Lok Sabha has been dissolved or the dissolution of the Lok Sabha takes place during the period of two months without approving the proclamation, then the proclamation survives until 30 days from the first sitting of the Lok Sabha after its reconstitution, provided the Rajya Sabha approves it in the mean time. If approved by both the Houses of Parliament, the President’s Rule continues for six months6. It can be extended for a maximum period of three years with the approval of the Parliament, every six months.

India and Nepal have successfully concluded the ‘testing transfer’ of the Motihari-Amlekhgunj oil Pipeline. The 69-km long petroleum pipeline from Motihari in Bihar to Amelkhgunj in Nepal has been constructed by India. This is the first transnational petroleum pipeline from India, first South Asian oil pipeline corridor and first oil pipeline in Nepal. It will ensure smooth, cost-effective and environment-friendly supply of petroleum products to Nepal. The Motihari-Amlekhgunj oil pipeline project was first proposed in 1996. The two governments had inked an agreement to execute the project in August 2015.

India-UN Development Partnership Fund (UNDPF) is a dedicated facility within the United Nations Fund for South-South Cooperation established in 2017. It supports Southern-owned and led, demand-driven, and transformational sustainable development projects across the developing world, with a focus on least developed countries and Small Island developing states.